Yemen expels 1 international journalist, bars another

New York, May 9, 2014--The Committee to Protect
Journalists is concerned by the Yemeni government's decision yesterday to expel
one international journalist and deny the entry of another.

According to McClatchy
and Buzzfeed,
U.S. freelance journalist Adam
Baron received a phone call around midnight on Monday saying there was
an issue with his documentation. Upon arrival at the immigration office in Sanaa on Tuesday, Baron's passport
was confiscated and he was escorted to a holding cell. He was released after nearly
12 hours in detention and given 24 hours to leave the country, which he did
Thursday morning.

Baron tweeted late
Thursday night that he is now in Cairo and the only official
explanation he has received is that he is "no longer
welcome in Yemen." Baron has written about Yemen for news outlets including McClatchy,
Christian
Science Monitor, Foreign Policy,
and Vice.
He most recently reported on a
surge in foreigners fighting on behalf of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP) and Yemenis using social media
to question the official government narrative of the fight against AQAP.

Another U.S.
freelance journalist, Tik Root, was denied entry
into Yemen Thursday after flying to Sanaa from
Istanbul, according to a series of posts on his Twitter account. He was forced
to reboard a plane and return to Turkey.

Like Baron, Root has written
about Yemen for many outlets, including Al-Jazeera, Time, The Economist and Foreign Policy. In a recent piece
for the online magazine Roads &
Kingdoms, Root wrote about a family torn between relatives who joined opposite
sides in the struggle between AQAP and the government.

A Yemeni government official who did not wish
to be identified told CPJ that Root was denied entry because he lacked a
journalist visa and Baron was expelled over an unspecified issue with his
papers, but his case was under review. The official said the government is
concerned about the safety of foreign nationals working in Yemen, but also
noted that other journalists had recently been granted press credentials to
enter the country.

According to CPJ research, at least seven
journalists were abducted
last year in Yemen, including Dutch journalist Judith Spiegel. The security
situation in Yemen has been particularly tense since the military launched a
major offensive against AQAP forces last month, according to news
reports. Today, a motorcade carrying the defense
minister, intelligence chief, and military police chief was ambushed while
traveling from Abyan to Shabwa province, the reports said. The officials were
unhurt, but at least three others were killed.

"We understand the
government's concern for the safety of international journalists in Yemen, but
this should not be grounds for denying them entry to the country," said CPJ's
Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Sherif Mansour. "We urge the
government to allow Tik Root and Adam Baron, along with all journalists, to
enter and report freely."

The U.S. embassy, which has
temporarily suspended public services in Sanaa for security concerns, has not
publicly commented on the deportations.

Iona Craig, Times
of London correspondent in Yemen, posted on Twitter Thursday that she
expects more deportations
of journalists and is "just waiting for the soldiers to come knocking."